How Hearthstone Chimney Co. Was Born in Bangor
We opened our doors in Bangor back in 2014 because we’d seen enough. The tradesman who trained us had spent thirty years in the field, and he’d watch homeowners get talked into full liner replacements when a simple sweep would do, or pay for “inspections” that never involved looking up the flue. One afternoon stands out. A woman on South Main Street had been quoted four figures to rebuild her firebox. She called us for a second opinion. We ran the camera up, showed her the screen in real time: cracked parging, yes, but structurally sound. A HeatShield application solved it for a fraction of what she’d been told. She sat down on her porch steps and cried. Not from relief at the money saved, from the feeling that someone had finally told her the truth. That was the moment we knew Bangor needed a different kind of chimney company. We brought the Hearthstone name here because the standards already existed: certified sweeps, camera inspections, plain-English verdicts. Our job was to make sure those standards were actually lived in this market.
Russell Haines’s Personal Connection to the Chimney Cleaning Trade
Russell Haines didn’t stumble into chimney work. He was drawn to it because the work demands something he respects: you can’t fake it. You either know what you’re looking at when that camera feed comes back, or you don’t. You either understand how draft and pressure and flue gas interact, or you sell people parts they don’t need.
The first time Russell ran a brush up a flue, it was winter in the Slate Belt. The air smelled like cold stone and old soot. His hands went numb despite the gloves. The homeowner, an older man who’d burned wood for forty years, stood in the doorway watching. When the job was done, the man didn’t check the invoice first. He walked to the fireplace, ran his hand along the cleaned brick, and said, “I can sleep better tonight.” That’s what hooked him. Not the mechanics, the trust.
Twelve years later, what gets Russell out of bed is the same thing. Every flue is a puzzle. Every house has its own history of burns, its own quirks of construction. The 1920s colonials in Pen Argyl with their unlined brick chimneys. The Pocono cabins where owners burn green pine and wonder why creosote builds fast. He’s seen chimney fires that started from a quarter-inch of glazed creosote. He’s found bird nests blocking flues in March, when families are still running their stoves hard against the cold. The work matters because the consequences of getting it wrong are real: carbon monoxide creeping into a bedroom, a roof fire at 2 AM.
If Russell weren’t doing this, he’d probably be working with his hands some other way. Carpentry, maybe. Something where you can stand back at the end of the day and point to what you built or fixed. But chimneys chose him, or he chose them, and now he can’t imagine walking away from that moment when a homeowner sees the camera feed for the first time and understands what’s actually going on in their house.
Meet Russell Haines - The Person Behind Every Job
Russell Haines is the Owner and Founder of Hearthstone Chimney Co. in Bangor. He’s a CSIA-certified sweep with level-2 inspection training and twelve years of hands-on experience in Northampton and Monroe counties. Before bringing the Hearthstone brand to this market, he trained under a master sweep in eastern Pennsylvania, learning masonry repair, flue relining, and the discipline of documenting every finding with photos a homeowner can actually understand.
What separates Russell from a franchise technician sent from three counties away is simple: he lives here. He knows which Bangor neighborhoods have the pre-war bungalows with original terracotta liners. He knows the wind patterns off Blue Mountain that can affect draft in a way no manual predicts. On weekends, you’ll find him on the Appalachian Trail near Wind Gap, or in his workshop restoring hand tools. That patience, that preference for fixing over replacing, carries into every job. When Russell says he’ll be there when he says, he means it. When he tells you something can wait until next season, it’s because it can, not because he’s too busy. His commitment to every customer is direct and personal: you’ll get a square deal, documented proof of what we find, and no recommendation without evidence you can see for yourself.
Our Promise to Bangor Homeowners
Our values aren’t posters on a wall. We call them K.E.Y.S., and we use them to settle real questions on real jobs.
Krafted right means trained journeymen, proper materials, no shortcuts. We use Gelco and Olympia Chimney products because we’ve seen how they hold up in local conditions, not because a distributor offered a spiff.
Every time means the 400th job gets the care of the first. We once returned to a job in Eastlawn Gardens because a customer noticed a smudge on her mantel after we’d left. It was our fault. We cleaned it, apologized, and checked every surface before we left.
Your home first means we work in your house the way we’d work in our mother’s. Drop cloths, shoe covers, vacuuming the hearth area before we go. The basics, done without being asked.
Standing behind it is The Keystone Standard, applied to chimneys: 90 days, in writing, no arguing. If it’s not right, we come back. No paperwork, no runaround.
Our Credentials
Every pro working under our name is required to hold the license and insurance their state requires. We’re state-licensed, insured and bonded, with a strong local reputation built one job at a time since 2014.
Here’s why each credential matters when you’re letting someone work inside your home:
- State-licensed: Pennsylvania requires chimney sweeps to meet specific standards. Licensing means accountability to a regulatory body, not just a business card.
- Insured & bonded: If something goes wrong, your homeowner’s policy isn’t the first line of defense. Our coverage is. Bonding adds a layer of financial protection for the work itself.
- Local experience: Twelve years in Bangor, Stroudsburg, and the Slate Belt means we’ve seen the local building stock, the local weather patterns, and the local codes. That knowledge prevents surprises.
- Strong local reputation: We’re still here because neighbors tell neighbors. No amount of advertising replaces a customer who trusts you enough to recommend you to their daughter.
These aren’t just boxes checked. They’re how we prove, before we ever set foot in your living room, that we plan to be in business long enough to stand behind what we do.
Rooted in Bangor
We serve homes from Bangor to Stroudsburg, from the old slate towns like Pen Argyl and Wind Gap to the newer developments in Forks and Upper Nazareth. But Bangor is where we started. We’ve swept chimneys on Broadway, on Market Street, in the hills above the borough where the view stretches to the Kittatinny Ridge. We know the rhythm of this place: the rush before burning season, the quiet of January when even the stove burns low. The hearthstone is the stone the whole home gathered around. That’s not just our name. It’s what we believe a chimney should be: the center of a house that’s warm, safe, and honest. Call us at (610) 609-7634. We’re here Monday through Sunday, 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM, and a live coordinator will connect you with our local team.
Written by Russell Haines, Owner at Hearthstone Chimney Co., serving Bangor since 2014.